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Math Tests for Nearly 550,000 Students Won't Count

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The Florida Department of Education says that the math tests taken by nearly 550,000 students won't count this school year.

The department sent out a memo this week to school districts telling them the results from end-of-course exams in Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II will not be available until September.

State officials told districts to calculate final grades without the test grades. The tests are supposed to count for 30 percent of the grade.

The reason for the delayed results is that a testing law passed this spring by the Florida Legislature requires an independent study of several new standardized tests.

Legislators called for the study following the troubled rollout this year of new tests that are tied to standards modeled largely after Common Core.

Meanwhile, more than 200 students at Anclote High School in Holiday will have to retake their Algebra 1 Florida Standards Test exam because the school supplied the wrong type of calculator.

Multiple news outlets report staff of the Pasco County school handed out scientific calculators earlier this month, which are not approved by the Florida State Department of Education. The mix-up actually affected more than 800 Anclote High students, but only the Algebra 1 class has to take the exam again.

Students will have to retake the exam as a graduation requirement. They have until the end of their senior year to pass the exam for graduation purposes.

The problem won't affect seniors' graduation in two weeks.

Scientific calculators contain more than the four functions allowed for taking these exams.

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